The Home Secretary announced on 30 June 2026 that applications for organisations to sponsor refugees will open this autumn, alongside planned reforms to Article 8 of the ECHR and the modern slavery system.
The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, set out the reforms on 30 June 2026. The source says wider immigration system reforms will be delivered through the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which was confirmed in the King's Speech. It gives no date for the Bill's introduction or passage.
Safe and legal routes
Applications will open this autumn for organisations to sponsor refugees, with the first arrivals in autumn 2027. The Home Office will work with "lead sponsors" to accredit them, and these must be organisations.
A new community sponsorship scheme will let communities sponsor refugees to resettle in their area, taking responsibility for housing, integration and support into work. It will sit outside the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), under which a small number of refugees are currently sponsored in communities while the vast majority are supported by councils. Trusted universities will be able to sponsor refugees directly through a study route. A refugee work route, allowing employers to sponsor refugees, is expected to open next year.
The Home Office will keep full control over who can act as a sponsor. All arrivals will be subject to biometric, criminality and health checks, and refugee status will be determined in partnership with the UNHCR.
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Article 8
The source states that the Immigration and Asylum Bill will tighten the application of Article 8 by defining "family" as an immediate family member, such as a parent, spouse or child under 18, except in exceptional circumstances. It says 77,000 Article 8 applications were granted in the past year.
A new test will make clear that deporting foreign national offenders is in the public interest and should be blocked only in the most exceptional circumstances. Entry clearance applications relying on Article 8 will have to be made in-country by the UK-based sponsor, not the overseas family member.
Modern slavery
The government says every trafficked and exploited child will receive a dedicated independent guardian, and that civil orders will be strengthened to restrict offenders' movements, work and activities. Businesses and public bodies that fail to identify and tackle abuse in their supply chains face fines of up to £1 million.
Changes to the Modern Slavery Act will:
- remove modern slavery protection and support for any foreign national who has committed a crime and received a custodial sentence, scrapping the previous 12-month threshold
- reject claims where there is evidence of false documentation
- reject last-minute claims made after removal action has begun, where there were opportunities to raise a claim earlier, unless there is a valid reason
Home Office data from a sample of charter flights operated last year showed that 76% of modern slavery claims by people due to be removed on those flights were made in the hours before departure.
What this means for applicants
Organisations that want to act as lead sponsors can expect applications to open this autumn; they must be accredited by the Home Office. Employers interested in sponsoring refugees can expect a refugee work route to open next year. The source gives no in-force dates for the Article 8 or modern slavery changes.
Sources
- Mahmood: My reforms will save the asylum system for a generation, GOV.UK, 30 June 2026